1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for digital content distribution/transactions, and more particularly to generating revenue based on distributing digital content stored in a subscriber's mobile device and when the subscriber's mobile device is connected to a network.
2. Background
Rapid improvements in digital technology have changed the way information is shared and distributed. From newspapers to photographs, users in every aspect of today's modern life use digital content. The popularity of the Internet and the use of mobile devices (for example, cellular phones, personal digital assistants and other devices), have further increased the demand for digital content. Digital content producers/providers face various challenges to control and distribute digital content, while keeping abreast with evolving business models to generate profit. Digital Rights Management (“DRM”) involves management of digital rights including physical manifestation of digital content (for example, a textbook or an article). DRM techniques are used to control access to digital content by enforcing controlled environments and/or encoding digital content.
Various standards are being used and developed to control, monitor and capitalize on digital content distribution in the commercial world, especially involving mobile devices. The following describes some of these standards.
The Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL) is a standard DRM architecture (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) for protecting digital content in an open or trusted computing environment. ODRL defines a standard vocabulary for expressing the terms and conditions over an asset (digital content). Rights can be specified for a specific asset manifestation or format or could be applied to a range of manifestations-of the asset. ODRL does not enforce or mandate any policy for DRM, but provides mechanisms to express such a policy. ODRL does not presume that mechanisms exist to achieve a secure architecture, but complements existing rights management standards by providing digital equivalents and supports an expandable range of new services that can be afforded by the digital nature of the assets in the Web environment. In the physical environment, ODRL can enable machine-based processing for DRM. The information about ODRL, as well as, ODRL electronic resources such as the ODRL Specification (version 1.1), the ODRL Data Dictionary (version 1.1), and the ODRL Expression Language (version 1.1), are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) is a standard for exchanging data and metadata electronically, where metadata describes the data. For example, the term “writer” is metadata that describes the data “CS Lewis”. XML is an outgrowth of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) that allows the author of an XML document to separate the logical content of the document from the presentation of the content. An author of an XML document adds metadata to a document as hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) tags in the document. A document type definition (DTD) file is the mechanism that adds shared content to the XML document.
The extensible rights Markup Language (XrML) (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) is an XML conforming language definition that specifies rights, fees, and conditions for using digital content. XrML also describes message integrity and entity authentication rules. XrML supports commerce in digital content such as publishing and selling electronic books, digital movies, digital music, interactive games, and computer software.
The Open Mobile Alliance (“OMA”), a standard organization was created by consolidating the efforts of the supporters of the Open Mobile Architecture initiative and the WAP Forum with the SyncML initiative, Location Interoperability Forum (LIF), MMS Interoperability Group (MMS-IOP), Wireless Village, Mobile Gaming Interoperability Forum (MGIF), and Mobile Wireless Internet Forum (MFIW). The OMA provides an overall standard architecture (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) that compliments existing communication standards, such as 3GPP or CDMA and also provides guidelines for controlling a mobile device, delivering and protecting content, and assists in commercial transactions using a mobile device. The term Mobile Commerce (“M-Commerce”) as used throughout this specification means the exchange or buying and selling of services and goods including subscription services, both physical and digital, from a mobile device.
Conventional digital content transactions involve a mobile device user (or subscriber, used interchangeably throughout this specification) who places an order for content. The subscriber obtains the rights from a rights issuing authority and content from a digital content provider via a mobile network operator (“MNO”). The rights associated with the content determine how the user can use or share the content. For example, the rights granted by the rights issuing authority may allow the subscriber to share the content with others (or “peers”) using a peer-peer network.
In a peer-to-peer network, the subscribers are connected to each other and mobile devices can exchange data/information. A peer-to-peer network allows content to be stored/shared among subscribers using a mobile network besides a phone-to-phone connection.
As digital content related transactions become more popular, digital content providers will need new innovative business techniques to increase revenue and profits. Conventional business models fail to capitalize or generate revenue based on content stored in a subscriber's mobile device. Once, content is downloaded by the subscriber, the content provider or the subscriber, does not generate any more revenue based on the downloaded content. Instead of utilizing the downloaded content for generating extra revenue, conventional techniques have tried to restrict content sharing in a peer-to-peer environment.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and system that will allow content stored by a subscriber to be re-circulated among other subscribers, hence, providing a new source of revenue for the parties that are involved in the transaction, namely, the content provider, the MNO, the rights issuing entity and the subscriber whose stored content is licensed/distributed to another subscriber.